In February 2017, Georgian trade unions and left-leaning activists and civil society groups organised large rallies in Rustavi and Tbilisi to support employees of the Azoti plant that were laid off without notice. Report­ed­ly, the Bank of Georgia took over Azoti, which is the largest nitrogen man­u­fac­tur­ing plant in Georgia, and dismissed three-hundred-and-fifty workers with no prior warning.